Every few weeks, your elected student government meets on a Wednesday night to talk about issues concerning the AMS. Agenda items can seem long, mysterious and confusing without the proper background, making it difficult to see how these issues affect students. Here’s what to watch out for in the upcoming AMS Council meeting on February 28:
Quarterly Financial Update
Every three months, the AMS VP Finance presents an update to Council on the financial standing of the Society for the current year. Introduced by previous VP Finance Louis Retief, this undertaking was part of a larger effort to improve the transparency of the AMS with respect to its financial dealings.
New Program Representation
After the creation and funding of a new biomedical engineering program, AMS Council will be considering assigning this group of students, who will begin classes in their second year in the fall, to the Engineering Undergraduate Society. Rather than have a separate constituency, AMS Bylaw 13(2)(a)(ii) allows their assignment to an existing constituency due to enrolment in the School of Biomedical Engineering.
Submission on Sexual Assault Policy
As part of a provincial government initiative to collect feedback on Bill 23, which mandated BC universities to have a standalone sexual misconduct policy, the AMS has made a submission highlighting areas for possible improvement. Submitted to Council for information at this meeting, it particularly highlights making the language in the policy easier to understand for students who may not have English as a first language, as well as a more aggressive promotion strategy to raise student awareness.
Jakob Gattinger, a fourth year applied science student, is the former VP Academic and University Affairs pro tem for the AMS and a current member of Council for engineering, as well as a student senator.